It is important to match the weight of the typeface with the voice of the message. Weight is the darkness of a typeface and it usually comes in extra light, light, normal, demi-bold, semi-bold, bold, ultra-bold, or black. Generally, the more popular a typeface is, the more weights it will have. Most body copy is normal, as that weight is the most legible. When creating headline, titles, or other display type, it is common to use bolder weights. These bring more attention and give a louder voice. Using bold type is more effective for emphasis than using italics, but it should be used in moderation.
One can also affect the message by changing the type style. This refers to “one of a number of structural deviations within the letterform of a specific family of type” (Ryan 99). Many typefaces have styles of normal, book, condensed and italic. Book is similar to normal, but it is smaller and takes up less horizontal space, thus for large publications, it will save money to use the book style. Condensed is narrower and smaller than book and is used with information graphics, insets, and diagrams because in those cases there is little room available for text.
It is a good idea to keep the same family of type throughout a project because it is the simplist and least jarring. However, if one wants to vary typefaces, it is good to choose those that contrast highly with each other. If there were a serif body text, it would be a advisable to have a bold sans serif headline. One should stay away from mixing typefaces that closely resemble each other. Doing so creates confusion and is not pleasing aesthetically. It is also a good idea to limit type in a project to two or three faces (Ryan 100).
Image source: http://www.callutheran.edu/brand_center/images/fonts/gill_sans.gif
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